Watering. 223 



the anther are weakened in a particular line, which in every 

 anther of the same species is constantly the same. It is sup- 

 posed that the clamminess of the stigma is not merely to stick 

 the pollen-grain fast, but also to cause the formation of the pol- 

 leri-tube ; to enable the latter to reach the ovule, notwithstand- 

 ing its excessive delicacy, the whole texture of the stigma and 

 style is loosened, so as to offer as little resistance as possible to 

 ^ passage of the pollen-tube. In the Rock-Rose Tribe we 

 have a still farther example of the facility with which obstacles 

 to communication between the pollen-tube and the opening in 

 the ovule are overcome. 



If we suppose a grain of pollen to fall on the stigma of a Cis- 

 tus, its tube may be easily understood to reach the place where 

 the ovules grow ; but when there, it is cut off from the foramen 

 by the whole length of the stalk and sides of the ovule, for the 

 foramen is at the other end of the latter. In order to overcome 

 this difficulty, we are told by M. Adolphe Brongniart, that the 

 pollen-tube does not follow the placenta till it reaches the ovule, 

 but quits the style at the top of the cavity of each cell, and 

 thence lengthens in the open space inside the ovary, in the 

 form of the finest imaginable cobweb, till it reaches the foramen 

 in the end of the ovules. 



WATERING. 



BY MR. XLKT. 



Injudicious watering does more injury to plants in rooms and 

 conservatories than most persons imagine, as plants suffer from 

 too much water, as well as too little. Many persons think 

 that they want water every day, and the more they give the 

 better. Others, being very cautious, will scarcely give them 

 sufficient to sustain life. When plants have had too much 

 water, the leaves turn dark and flabby, and when too little, 

 they turn yellow, and finally drop off. The best plan is not to 

 water them till the soil in the pots appears dry, or their leaves 

 droop : then give them sufficient water to wet the soil thorough- 



